Latest / Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights / Why Interior Design Matters More Than You Think in Short-Term Rentals

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Why Interior Design Matters More Than You Think in Short-Term Rentals · Host Planet: Airbnb, Holiday Let, and Vacation Rental Insights

0:00
Welcome to the House Planet Playbook, your go to guide for
0:03
mastering short term rentals. In this special series, we're
0:06
sitting down with 30 of the world's top property managers to
0:10
uncover what really drives success in the vacation rental
0:13
industry. You'll hear their stories, learn
0:16
the key lessons they've picked up along the way, and discover
0:19
the game changing tech they use to deliver 5 star guest
0:23
experiences. If you're serious about growing
0:26
your STR business, you're in the right place.
0:29
We've also developed an e-book featuring the stories of every
0:32
manager in this series and you can download it for free.
0:36
Head to House Planet dot Club to find out more.
0:39
In today's episode, we're chatting to Emma Kelman from the
0:42
Island Holiday Company in the Isle of Wight.
0:44
Stand by for a deep dive into island hosting, delivering
0:48
everything under one roof and phantom gas leaks which lead to
0:52
more business. This special series is brought
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to you by Hostplanet and Hospitable, the smart AI powered
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property management software trusted by hosts worldwide.
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With Hospitable, you can automate guest messaging, sync
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all from one powerful, easy to use platform.
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If you're keen to run your short term rental on autopilot, try
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to see how the platform can save you time.
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Reduce stress and maximize your earnings.
1:31
Emma, thank you for being part of the House Planet Playbook.
1:34
Let's start with you. What's the name of your company?
1:37
Where are you located and how many rentals do you manage?
1:41
Hi, James, Thank you very much for inviting me.
1:45
So my property is at my property.
1:48
Sorry. My business is the Island
1:50
Holiday Company. We're based on the Isle of Wight
1:53
and we have 128 properties and growing.
1:58
Fantastic. So tell us, how did you get
2:00
involved in the world of short term rentals?
2:04
I took a really big risk in 2017 and decided to move out of my
2:11
very pretty cottage into a pretty much derelict property
2:17
and I decided to holiday let it. I've always loved properties,
2:21
I've always had an interest in travel and holidays and just
2:27
thought, you know what, it's a bit of a gamble, but I'm going
2:29
to give it a go and see what happens and hit the ground
2:34
running really. And it's kind of the basis for
2:37
me, but doing what I do now. So how did you go from that one
2:42
property to over 120 today? Tell us about the journey.
2:47
So at the time I launched my holiday let myself an interior
2:52
design business as well and I started taking on clients.
2:56
I started getting busy and I was approached by a local law firm
3:00
and they said, you know, you should be looking at doing
3:03
property management because you're very good at managing
3:06
properties and contractors and it's something we could do with
3:10
having someone to work with. And I started sort of picking up
3:15
properties like doing inspections and things like
3:17
that. And then I had a friend who was
3:22
said to me, can you keep an eye out for any cleaning work?
3:24
And I was doing an interior design project for another
3:26
holiday letting agency. I sort of said, oh, you know,
3:29
have you got any cleaning? I've got a friend looking for
3:31
some cleaning work. Can we help you with that?
3:34
And they, they were like, yes, great.
3:36
So started taking on properties for cleaning And I knew what my
3:40
expectation was as an owner and it just grew and grew and grew.
3:46
And then COVID hit and we'd, we'd gone from having, I think
3:51
we were, we were doing property management and housekeeping on
3:55
about 32 properties. And over between October and
3:58
March when Covad hit, we doubled, we went to 64, which
4:01
was quite a lot. We were doing those changeovers
4:04
over 2 days. So it was like a military
4:06
operation in itself. But I've got a very strong sales
4:12
and property background. I've been in property since I
4:14
was in my mid 20s. And just seeing how some other
4:17
agencies behaved through COVID, some of the larger companies, it
4:22
was, it was quite poor. And I thought, you know, looking
4:25
at what we were doing, we were so good at what we were doing.
4:27
I thought actually, let's go back to my roofs.
4:31
I never really meant to set up a cleaning business.
4:33
It kind of happened by accident. And I thought, you know what, I
4:36
think it would be a really make really good sense for us to have
4:40
a business that did everything under one roof.
4:43
I had a handful of properties that I was managing myself at
4:46
that point that was picking up from doing interior design
4:49
projects, have my own property and about another 8 properties.
4:54
And then I spoke to my clients who I was looking after and we
4:58
were doing the property management for them.
4:59
And I said, you know, I'm going to be doing this, would you be
5:03
interested in joining me? And they were all like, yes,
5:05
absolutely. We're on board with this.
5:07
And I think we started off about 17 properties.
5:11
And the more we were talking about what we were doing, the
5:14
more we were reaching out across social media and networking, it
5:19
just become really apparent that people, you know, could see the
5:24
benefits of having one business that looked after absolutely
5:28
everything for them. I mean, yes, there are other
5:30
local businesses that can organise a fully managed
5:34
service, but they don't have everything under one roof like
5:38
we do. You know, we have got our own in
5:40
house housekeeping team and they are amazing at what they do.
5:44
And I think people could see what we were doing, what we're
5:46
trying to achieve for actually this makes sense because quite
5:50
often if people getting bad reviews, it was often on things
5:53
like the cleaning or response time, things like that.
5:56
But we were saying, actually, no, we're local.
5:58
We can, we're on the ground, we can look after your property,
6:02
we've got your back all the way through.
6:04
It's a, you know, and it's just been really popular.
6:09
It's just been a really popular service and it's just grown and
6:12
grown and grown. Tell us a little bit more about
6:15
the Isle of Wight then. What are your average guests
6:19
like? And in terms of the Island
6:21
Holiday company, why do you stand out in the Isle of Wight?
6:27
So our average guests, I think we are very much a seasonal
6:30
island and I think our guests change through the year.
6:35
You know, we have very much families, which I'm sure most
6:39
businesses do at peak periods. Outside of that, I would say
6:44
it's people travelling, sort of older couples and people
6:47
travelling with their pets because that seems to be really
6:49
popular. We're very pet friendly island.
6:54
You can even bring your dog over on the ferry.
6:57
It's even got its own designated dog area with dog treats you can
7:00
buy on the ferry. And I think what, what makes us
7:05
individual in terms of what we do as a business, Well, we are,
7:10
I'm, I'm, I've been on the island since I was 3.
7:13
So I live and breathe the Isle of Wight.
7:15
It's beautiful here. And I think in terms of what we
7:19
do is, you know, we've we've got a very unique set up.
7:25
We've got our own in house housekeeping team, we've got our
7:29
own in house laundry services. We've got our own in house full
7:33
time marketing executive now as well, which is a new move that
7:38
we've just recently done. And I think, you know, if you
7:42
look at our branding, we've got the lighthouse, which a lot of
7:47
people say, have you ever been to?
7:48
And like, Oh yes, I went there as a child on a school trip.
7:50
We went to the needles and got the coloured sand.
7:52
So we're really, well, you know, we are, that's what we're known
7:55
for. So our logo is the Needles
7:58
Lighthouse and I think it's just a really nice smart logo and we
8:04
recognize and that kind of links to what we do and people
8:07
recognize us for that. What are your top tips for
8:11
delivering an outstanding guest experience?
8:14
I think being consistent in doing what we do, you know,
8:21
things aren't always as smooth as it can be, but your, your
8:24
first, your first step is to make sure the property is guest
8:27
ready. You know, I always look at it,
8:31
if I'm going on holiday somewhere, how do I want to
8:33
feel? It's an emotional connection
8:35
when you're going on holiday, you walk in and you want to go,
8:38
oh wow, it's just how I saw it in the photos.
8:40
It's got to look that good. So it's making sure it's
8:43
presented and cleaned to a high standard right from the
8:46
beginning and making sure that the guest is satisfied with
8:51
their stay. Now, we can't please everybody
8:52
and things do go wrong, but it's not what goes wrong, it's how
8:57
you put it right. And I think for me personally, I
9:01
like it if we go, oh, this guest's got a problem.
9:05
And sometimes we need to quantify that problem and it's
9:09
picking up the phone and speaking to the guests, making
9:11
sure that the guest's happy with what you're doing.
9:14
Sometimes it's even a case of going out there and, and
9:16
actually seeing them. So first thing like I say, is,
9:19
is making sure the property is guest ready.
9:21
Second is making sure the communication is really, really
9:24
good. And 3rd, I think if you get a
9:27
problem which happens a lot, you know, making sure that you deal
9:31
with that as swiftly as you can, you're responsive and you follow
9:34
it through and make sure the guest is happy with the
9:36
response. Yeah, try and turn that negative
9:39
into a positive in terms of owners then.
9:44
What are your top tips for keeping owners happy?
9:48
I think it's making sure that you do what you say you're going
9:52
to do, be honest with your owners.
9:56
And I'm, I am very honest with my owners and I say, you know,
10:00
sometimes it might not be what you want to hear, but would
10:02
rather be honest with you and making sure you set expectations
10:06
at the beginning. As an example, I always say to
10:10
all of our owners your first year your your home or your
10:15
holiday home is a business. Any new business has got to
10:19
establish itself and that is how you need to look at your
10:21
holiday. Let's so to set your
10:22
expectations on how we're going to make sure that's done right
10:25
for you. We will make sure that we are
10:29
keeping the pricing so it's competitive against other
10:31
properties that are like yours because you need to be a little
10:34
bit below other properties if they're well established because
10:36
you should be concentrating on getting people through the door
10:39
and getting the view reviews and building up your expectations.
10:42
So that's really, really important.
10:45
Secondly is making sure we do what we say we're going to do.
10:48
We're going to we say we're going to do something for our
10:50
owner. Let's make sure we do it.
10:53
Same basis of guess if there's a problem, need to quantify what
10:58
that problem is and what we can do to resolve it and pick up the
11:01
phone and talk to people and deliver that personable service.
11:06
Because I'm very much a face to face person.
11:09
And I do think people buy people.
11:11
And I think it's really great to buy someone right at the
11:13
beginning when you're giving them your business.
11:14
But let's follow that through and keep that relationship going
11:17
and just keeping a good relationship with your owners.
11:20
I mean, I would say the majority of of of clients that came on
11:26
when I set my business up unless their circumstance to change is
11:29
still with us. And I think that says a lot
11:32
about what we do as a business and the service that we deliver.
11:36
You said earlier that you set up the business at the same time as
11:40
you were setting up a interior design business.
11:43
So talk to us about interior design.
11:47
How important is it and what are the key tips that you can share
11:50
with people to get it right when they set up a property?
11:54
So interior design is really important.
11:57
It's not something I do. I love it, but I just haven't
12:00
got the time to do it anymore. I'm very passionate about
12:04
properties and how they look. So if I'm speaking to owners
12:11
now, I I generally say, you know, I can't do interior design
12:15
for you, but I can point you in the right direction or I can
12:17
give you some ideas. I would say for someone that's
12:21
looking to set up their own holiday home, or if I've got
12:26
somebody, I'm setting up a new holiday home, Pinterest is
12:29
really great for getting ideas. The more you explore it, the
12:32
more it broadens your view of design And, and you can kind of
12:37
you can narrow down the type of things that you like, but also
12:40
to look at other holiday. Let's look at how they're
12:42
presented. And you know, quite often what I
12:46
found when I started in property management is I'd go into these
12:50
properties and there was they were just bare.
12:53
You know, you had second wrong. They had all the the basics.
12:57
They had the furniture that was needed, but there was no soft
13:00
furnishings or there wouldn't be any cushions.
13:02
There'd be no ornaments, no pictures on the wall.
13:05
They were just land and clinical and I, I used to pick them up
13:10
and go right. Okay, I think if you can just
13:13
give us a budget of, I don't know, £500.
13:17
Can we please go in, get you some throws, some cushions, get
13:20
some cushions for your bed, get some pictures and mirrors on the
13:22
wall. Get a bit of greenery in.
13:24
So important because no one wants to just look at a picture
13:28
of ATV unit of ATV in a room, you know, the one that is your,
13:32
it's emotional again, it's emotional buying and you kind of
13:36
want to appeal to people. So it's all about presentation.
13:40
And one thing which we're really focusing on at the moment as an
13:43
agency and we're still working on it is, is kind of building in
13:49
more lifestyle shots, you know, few extra little bits sort of in
13:55
the photos like magazines and books and things like that, and
13:58
making sure that they're dressed.
13:59
So that's something which we will help with.
14:01
So we don't charge any extra to that for that, but we kind of
14:03
feel that it's worth the input of doing that.
14:06
But it is all about presentation and you want it to look good in
14:09
your photos. And we can assist with that to a
14:11
degree, but it's very important to make sure you get that right
14:16
from the beginning because then you hit the ground running.
14:19
Makes a lot of sense. I always like to see a little
14:22
bit of consistency in photos with nice colors.
14:26
And I don't know, like you say, the furnishings and it might be
14:29
like a nice kettle or whatever it is just showcasing,
14:34
showcasing the property as well as you can.
14:36
Because so many listings I look at the, the photos are a bit
14:39
dark and there's no consistency. There's no real colour in there.
14:42
So it can make such a big difference.
14:44
Yeah, light. Oh gosh, Light.
14:46
And and that's, I mean, that's another thing I'll go in, if I
14:48
go into a property and there's just the main light, I'll be
14:51
like floor lamp, table lamps, you need these things in there
14:55
and some ornaments and things like that.
14:57
We will do that for people. We will charge them for it.
15:01
But we kind of say, you know, just a small budget just to
15:06
liven it up a little bit so it's more appealing in your photos.
15:10
And, you know, people are quite receptive of that.
15:13
And I think, you know, we're being recognized as being local
15:16
property experts and people know, you know, they value our
15:20
experience and our advice. And it's really good because we
15:23
get that really good working relationship quite early on.
15:26
And you know, we've got this kind of agreement with the
15:29
majority of our owners that are just like, we know you, you know
15:32
what you're doing, we'll leave it to you.
15:35
And it's great because then we can just make sure we're doing
15:37
the absolute best we can for their occupancy and making sure
15:42
we get them as much revenue as we can.
15:45
Yeah, and getting those photos right from day one, it is so
15:47
important. Back to the Isle of Wight a
15:50
little bit then. What are the main challenges and
15:53
opportunities in your area? So the main challenges can be
16:01
ferries I suppose and what that can be weather dependent or if
16:05
they breakdown there can be a bit of a challenge.
16:08
So that can set people back sometimes.
16:11
But actually it's part of the holiday, you know, if you want
16:15
to go somewhere nice, quite often we have to get on a plane.
16:18
And I think for a lot of people and for me as well, I find this,
16:22
if I'm going on holiday, the beginning of my journey, when
16:25
I'm going on holidays, getting on the ferry, because I know I'm
16:26
going on holiday. And I think it we're, we're
16:30
quite unique to the Isle of being on the Isle of Wight that
16:32
you do have to get the car ferry to come over.
16:34
And of course you come across some hovercraft as well, which
16:36
is an experience in itself and it's actually quite a nice part
16:41
of the journey. So it has its challenge
16:43
challenges, it has its benefits as well.
16:44
And you know, we often joke with people coming over, don't forget
16:49
your passport, don't need a passport by the way, but we do.
16:54
We do normally have a bit of a giggle about that.
16:57
But yes, it can have its challenges.
17:00
You know, there can sometimes be delays which can't do much
17:04
about, but I think when you get here the journey is worth it.
17:09
In terms of opportunities, I think opportunities for us on
17:15
the Isle of Wight at the moment, which I'm sure is more of an not
17:19
necessary for the Island. I think it's more of an industry
17:21
thing at the moment. But what we've seen recently, or
17:23
what I've seen recently is more properties coming on which have
17:28
never been holiday let because of the double council tax.
17:32
So for me, I've seen that as a bit of an opportunity rather
17:37
than than a negative thing because you've got people that
17:39
have got second homes that still want to keep their second homes
17:43
and now all of a sudden not only are we saving them money, we're
17:46
making them money as well, which is great.
17:49
Yeah, definitely an opportunity for those people who, yeah,
17:51
getting stung with that extra council taxes.
17:53
Not nice to pay too much council tax.
17:55
Get yourself get yourself onto business rates.
17:57
That might be the the next thing we do.
18:00
We do, yeah. We recommend that absolutely.
18:03
Yeah. OK then.
18:05
So what's the biggest lesson learned you've had since setting
18:09
up the business? Oh wow.
18:13
The biggest lesson, well, I don't really know.
18:18
There's been so many lessons that you learn along the way.
18:21
I think if I was going to make a recommendation for someone that
18:26
was going to start on this journey, I think I would say to
18:30
do as much networking at short term rental events as you can
18:35
before you start your business and get as much information as
18:38
possible. I think there's so much that
18:43
I've found that I'm learning now and have been learning all the
18:47
way through and I'm still learning.
18:49
I, I think I don't think you've ever really stopped learning in
18:51
an industry because things change and evolve all the time.
18:55
But I think if you can speak to people that are already in the
19:00
business and get ideas and find out what went well for them,
19:03
what's gone wrong, any top tips and good advice, you'd probably
19:07
save yourself thousands of pounds because mistakes can be
19:11
costly. And I think it's so easy to get
19:16
an idea or concept in business and go, I'm going to do this And
19:20
you know, good on anybody that does that because it's always a
19:22
big risk and it's sort of hard work.
19:24
You have to be very determined and dedicated.
19:27
But I think with me, I ran three separate businesses before I set
19:33
up the holiday letting business. And this is definitely been the
19:37
one that has had the most challenges because the just the
19:43
dynamics of running a business, the complexities of running a
19:47
business cyclist. I, I think it's very easy to go,
19:51
Oh, I'm just going to set up a holiday letting business.
19:54
And you hear other people, people going, Oh, we, we've had
19:57
these people come around house. They're just setting up and it
20:00
sounds awful, but they've got no idea.
20:01
They've got no property background.
20:03
They've just gone. I'm going to go and and look
20:05
after holiday let's. But they don't know what they're
20:08
doing. And you are being entrusted with
20:11
hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of someone's property.
20:16
And that's quite scary. I think that the people do that.
20:20
I mean, I had a background, very strong background knowledge in
20:24
property. So I always knew my clients were
20:26
going to be well looked after. But I think that really anybody
20:30
that's looking to get in this industry should ideally have
20:35
some sort of background in property or property knowledge
20:38
or at least have somebody involved in the business that's
20:41
got that to make sure it's robust.
20:43
But also, like I say, get as much information as you can.
20:46
Speak to people in the industry, you know, pull on their
20:49
knowledge, ask those questions, get top tips, and then make sure
20:53
that you've you've got all of that information so that you can
20:58
hit the ground running. Provide a great service, but
21:01
also have some reassurance that you know, you've spoken to
21:03
experts in the industry and you know what you're doing.
21:06
Yeah, it is a really fast-paced industry and like you say there
21:10
it is changing and developing all the time and there are some
21:12
brilliant events and of course we are running many of them at
21:16
Host Planet. So check out the events page on
21:18
our website. One of them will be in
21:20
Portsmouth with Emma in March 2026.
21:25
Off the top of my head. Go to our events page, you will
21:27
find out all the details part of our Host Planet Roadshow.
21:30
So come along to that and learn from the experts.
21:34
Yeah, you will. I mean, any event I go to,
21:37
there's always a light bulb moment somewhere where it's
21:40
like, oh, wow, yeah, that is a great idea.
21:43
Every time and and I love it because it's nice to learn and
21:48
speak to like minded people about, you know, what's gone
21:51
well, what didn't go well, what did you about this?
21:53
But I think if you can get all of that information very early
21:56
on, I think you can put together a very robust business.
22:01
But it's not for the faint hearted, I can tell you.
22:06
Absolutely not, and one of the reasons I set up this platform
22:09
is because, you know, the knowledge gap of a lot of people
22:12
is is quite low. You know, I'd include myself in
22:14
that when I started out. So, you know, head to our
22:16
website, so many free resources there, free downloads, blog
22:19
posts, podcasts, everything you can think of so that can help
22:23
everybody on their journey. Just before we get to our quick
22:27
fire questions then Emma, what do you love most about hosting?
22:33
Creating happy memories, you know, whenever you go on
22:39
holiday, you're, it's a lifestyle thing, isn't it?
22:43
And you're looking at where you want to go with your partner or
22:48
your parents or your children or your pets.
22:52
And ultimately when you leave, you're taking those memories
22:56
with you. And I just think it's such an
22:58
important part of living and enjoying life and being able to
23:03
have these moments and that downtime to reflect.
23:05
You know, a lot of people make big life changes on holiday.
23:09
And I think for me, you know, when we get the feedback from
23:11
our guests about how lovely their stay's been, how clean the
23:14
property was and how helpful the team's been, it makes it all
23:19
worthwhile. Superb.
23:22
Well said. OK then a few more quick fire
23:26
questions now. Which PMS do you use?
23:29
I use a Vantio. And which dynamic pricing tool
23:34
do you use? Beyond pricing.
23:37
Which piece of tech couldn't you live without?
23:40
My phone. Yes, where would you be?
23:44
I've had to think about this. I was thinking tech and I was
23:47
you thinking about all the different techs that link in
23:49
with what you do. And actually if I didn't have my
23:52
phone, I wouldn't know what I'm doing tomorrow.
23:54
I wouldn't know what I'm doing at the end of the day.
23:56
It even reminds me to pick my children up from school.
23:59
I know that sounds really bad, but I lose time in the day and I
24:02
get a reminder up to leave to pick the children up.
24:06
Yeah, my whole life is on there. I wouldn't know when I was going
24:09
on holiday when my plane was. So phone 100%.
24:16
I think we all get it. I know the answer to this
24:19
already, but pets yes or no? 100% yes.
24:23
Hot tubs yes or no? See, I always be very much yes
24:30
to hot tubs. Hot tubs are great.
24:32
They can increase your occupancy, but when they go
24:35
wrong, they're a pain or if your contractor lets you down doing
24:41
your hot tub change over. We don't really have that
24:43
problem, but sometimes things can get lost in translation and
24:47
then you're looking at compensation.
24:48
So I'm I'm on the fence a little bit with that.
24:52
I haven't got a hot tub at either of my holiday let's
24:55
because I just think sometimes there can be a bit more trouble
24:59
than they're worth. On the fence but edging towards
25:02
no, it sounded. Like, I think so, but as time's
25:05
got back to a game with, I was like, yeah, have a hot tub.
25:07
They're great. Ideally self check in or a
25:13
personal welcome. Oh, you know, I'd love to do a
25:17
personal welcome. I do regularly see guests at one
25:20
of my properties because I've got a heated swimming pool there
25:24
and it's nice. And I think you consistently
25:26
tend to get 5 star reviews with that personal service, but the
25:29
logistics of actually doing that, they're very difficult.
25:34
So I think from a business continuity and ease, it's got to
25:38
be safe, keep safe for. Self checking yeah yeah.
25:45
Makes all our lives a bit easier.
25:48
Telephone call or an AI response?
25:51
Telephone call AI will be good, I think and we are looking at
25:56
that and we're actually in the process of setting up AI as we
25:58
speak. And I think for managing
26:00
day-to-day operations it might help.
26:03
All kind of just basic queries, but I think it's exactly the
26:08
same that you know, if you've got a complaint or you've got
26:11
someone that's unhappy for any reason, it's always better to
26:14
speak to a person. What's your most memorable
26:18
hosting moment? Good or bad?
26:25
You decide. I think my most memorable one,
26:31
we had this property and we at the time the business had been
26:36
fairly newly set up as a holiday letting agency.
26:40
And we'd just taken this property on.
26:42
And there was a rather unusual neighbor who had been known to
26:50
take keys out of the door with decorator in there and locking
26:53
him in the house and doing some rather unusual events going on
27:01
at this property and had this guest ring me up.
27:05
He'd stayed before as a repeat guest.
27:08
I want to hear. I have some concerns.
27:11
I've spoken to the neighbour's son and he said that the
27:15
property's been condemned as a major gas leak, which I was
27:18
like, no, there's no major gas leak there.
27:21
You'd be pleased to know. And I'm, I'm very sure you've
27:23
had this experience. And I started chatting to him.
27:26
We're sort of having a bit of a laugh about it.
27:28
And he said, actually, I'm really glad I spoke to you
27:32
because I'm actually looking for a property on the island.
27:35
And I went, oh, OK, what's your plans for it?
27:38
Are you looking to holiday? Let it?
27:39
Yes. So I picked myself up a new
27:40
client and I'd say that's got to be one of the most memorable
27:44
because of the circumstances around it were very odd but
27:47
funny looking back. And we turned it into what could
27:51
have been disastrous situation, into one where we both laughed
27:55
and we picked another very nice property up of our portfolio.
27:58
And I did the interior design on it as well.
28:00
So there you go. Wow, bizarre neighbor leading to
28:04
a happy new customer. Fantastic.
28:07
What a terrible neighbor. Goodness me what?
28:09
What is going on there? OK then, so shout out time.
28:14
Is there an individual in the STR industry who's helped you
28:17
and you'd like to give a shout out to?
28:19
Yes, Lisa bodes. I've, I just started working
28:25
with Lisa, but I would say more from the perspective of what she
28:31
is doing generally speaking for women in the industry that men
28:35
are doing a good job as well. I'm not saying it's just women
28:38
here, but it's, it's nice to cut to have a networking group that
28:46
kind of sees different set of challenges.
28:49
You know, everybody's got different challenges in their
28:51
life. Of course they have.
28:52
But I think sometimes when you've got especially you've got
28:55
families, you've got children and things like that, the
28:58
dynamics of running a business can be more complex.
29:01
And I love what she is doing. She's a very nice lady, really
29:08
positive and supportive. And I just think I think she's
29:12
great. So that's who I would give my
29:14
shout out to. Superb shout out for Lisa that
29:18
and very well deserved. Ultimate goal for your property
29:22
management business. I think it's, it's just to keep
29:26
evolving. The business is, is just, it's
29:30
evolving all the time. The industry's evolving and
29:32
we're evolving as a business and with the industry, you know,
29:38
we're continuing to grow. We might we might kind of tweak
29:42
our properties in terms of the type of properties that we
29:46
offer. I'd say we're sort of more mid
29:48
to high end properties. And I think we just want to
29:53
continue growing. We're the biggest independent on
29:55
the Isle of Wight now. And I would say we've got we
30:00
we're actually proving to be quite very, very not quite very,
30:04
very strong competition for larger businesses that are also
30:08
located on the Island. And I would, I would say in
30:12
terms of our offering and what we're doing and our investment
30:15
as a business with our marketing and we're starting to work with
30:20
influencers as well. I really think that we are, we
30:25
set ourselves apart from our competition by a long way.
30:29
And I can just see that getting better and better and growing
30:33
and growing and it's just not showing any signs of slowing
30:35
down. I mean, we, we had this time
30:37
last year, we had 71 properties. We're now at 128 and we're still
30:46
on boarding new clients every week.
30:48
So I'd like us to continue growing.
30:51
I want the team to continue growing and I want us to
30:54
continue to still have that personal touch that we do now.
31:00
It's really important to me. And yeah, I think certainly, but
31:04
surely let's take over the Isle of Wight.
31:07
Love it taking over the Isle of Wight.
31:09
Superb. Isle of Wight domination.
31:11
Fantastic. Emma, thank you for joining us
31:15
and thank you for being part of the Host Planet Playbook.
31:18
My pleasure. Thank you for inviting me.
31:20
All right, that's it for today's episode.
31:22
My thanks to Emma for sharing her journey and for being part
31:25
of the Host Planet playbook. Remember, this series is brought
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Head to hospitable.com/house Planet to claim your offer and
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32:18
Until call next time. Happy hosting.